bobsleigh athlete requirements

There are only two unavoidable requirements for a bobsleigh athlete. They must be able to push a sled fast, and they mustn’t be too heavy. After this, the rest is at the discretion of the team, and the athlete themselves. Some athletes will choose to focus on strength, others on pure speed, but some combination of the two is absolutely necessary.

Most teams will have a range of minimum requirements for their athletes, though these aren’t the be all and end all. Ultimately if an athlete cannot run under 4 seconds for 30m, but can still push a sled efficiently, then they may still find success in the sport. However, over many years of training a lot of teams will find that there are minimum requirements that tend to be a good forecast of whether someone will be a proficient bobsleigh athlete.

Some minimum requirements that have been used in the past are:
(please note these are guidelines only that have been used in the past and do not necessarily mean one is good or bad bobsleigh athlete)

200kg squat below parallel
140kg Clean
<11 second 100m sprint
<4 second 30m sprint
<7 second 60m sprint
>3 metre broad jump

The overwhelming majority of elite male bobsledders will be able to complete multiple, if not all of those requirements, whilst still being in the relevant weight category. The average weight for a 4-man bobsledder is 105kg.